Florent Dumont: 'One More Angel in Heaven: Metaphysical Modality and Paradox'
Chair: Asia Sakchatchawan
Faculty Commentator: Nick Jones
It is natural to assume that what is metaphysically possible is closed under certain principles of plenitude. These are principles to the effect that if such and such is metaphysically possible, then such and so ought to be metaphysically possible as well. For instance, assuming that it is possible in the relevant sense for there to be an angel, then it should be possible for there to be this angel as well as another one distinct from it. Principles of plenitude delimit the scope of metaphysical possibility, so to speak. A modal paradox due to Fritz (2017) shows that plausible principles of plenitude for metaphysical possibility are mutually inconsistent. I present a solution to the paradox according to which metaphysical modality exhibits a kind of indefinite extensibility (Roberts, 2019; Rayo, 2020). On this view, there is no definite delineation of the metaphysically possible worlds. I outline my preferred way of spelling out this conception of metaphysical modality and explore its consequences for modal metaphysics.
